IN MY CORNER
by Ballyuk
Summary: Clark outlines his misgivings as he and his dad talk about the election campaign. Set after the events of 5x10 (Fanatic).


Author's Note: I do not own the characters.

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 **IN MY CORNER.**

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Clark and his dad were busy in the barn closing everything up for the night. The horses were back in the stables but some tools and the harnesses still needed to be put away. Shelby had been fed after getting a run around the pasture, and the hay bales were in the corner ready to be put out the next morning. Despite Jonathan being kept busy with his campaign engagements, he was keen to ensure that running the farm was not put on the back burner. Hard work was the cornerstone of his election promises, and the life of a farmer was nothing if not hard work.

Clark had remained largely silent, and Jonathan had decided not to enquire but he knew something was on his son's mind. Clark tended to clam up when something was on his mind. Jonathan was not a betting man, but if he were, he'd bet that it had something to do with his narrow escape at the election rally last night. He was right of course.

What was also troubling Clark - as was often the case - was his relationship with Lana. Ever since Jor-el had returned his powers, Clark had been fearful of getting intimate with Lana again. The lack of such a display of affection was noticeable and he was running out of excuses. He hated the situation but couldn't speak to anyone about it. Chloe and his parents knew about his powers but the intimacy thing wasn't something he could discuss with his parents as it was too embarrassing. It was bad enough having to skirt around the issue when trying to get Chloe to understand. Clark was not in a happy place right now.

They heard the crunch of gravel as a car pulled up. Peering outside onto the driveway, they saw the familiar red Ford Fusion under the dim light of the barn. Just like the car's owner, the car wore a gleam denoting a fresh start and the enthusiasm of a new adventure. For her new role, Lois had taken to wearing pantsuits to give off a professional vibe, and the look suited her. She had a real spring in her step, totally unwavering in her determination and not somebody to let the not-so-trivial matter of disarming a would-be assassin throw her off.

Spotting them by the barn's entrance as she glanced around, Lois called out.

"Hey Smallville, Mr Kent. Is Mrs Kent in the house?"

"Yeah," Jonathan replied, wiping his hands on a rag. "Lois, you should've come by earlier. That way you could've stayed for dinner."

Clark's shoulders visibly sagged, merely adding to his general sullen mood, as the idea of Lois staying over for dinner brought back memories of her extended stay at the farm. He'd taken to believing that once Lois was off the farm and living above the Talon, her visits would become less frequent. She had the coffee shop to occupy her time. Oh, she was a friend of course - maybe even a good one - but one who nonetheless would stir up a lot less aggravation in him due to not being in his face all the time. Now that his father had enlisted Lois to run the election campaign, Clark knew she'd be at the farm pretty regularly, almost like when she was living there. To have his room back and be able to have hot showers again was small consolation.

If Lois noticed Clark's glumness, she chose to ignore it. She was here to discuss Lionel's campaign donation with Martha but knew she had to keep the matter from Jonathan because he wouldn't want anything to do with the Luthors. She felt guilty and uncomfortable about it given how much trust and faith he'd placed in her, but at the same time she knew the money from Lionel was needed to give Jonathan Kent at least a puncher's chance in the campaign. Lex Luthor had the financial advantage and was currently miles ahead in the opinion polls. The Kent campaign was playing catch-up and with the finances so tight, they were fighting with one hand tied behind their backs.

"Thanks Mr Kent, I'm sure it was great but I'll have to pass. Things are running at a hundred miles an hour and every minute counts. I just wanted to run the numbers for the Talon by Mrs Kent so the place isn't being left high and dry. This campaign stuff is gonna take up most of my time now, and I don't want the only coffee house in town to go out of business on my watch. Where else will I find my caffeine fix, right?" Lois babbled, itching to get away towards the safety of Mrs Kent's confidence but trying not to show it.

Clark breathed a sigh of relief, again unseen by their preoccupied visitor.

Jonathan smiled. "Why don't you go on to the house. We'll be finished up here soon."

Lois smiled and nodded before making her way over to the house to see Martha. Jonathan turned to head back inside the barn but stopped when Clark spoke up in hushed tones.

"Dad, are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Clark as he gathered the harnesses.

"Clark, if you're talking about the effect all this campaigning is having on my heart, don't worry about it. I have a health check every two weeks, the doctors have given me the all clear, I'm taking all my meds and I feel fine!"

"I know," Clark replied, unsure about how to vocalise his misgivings. He chose to open with his father's recent lucky escape from a bullet fired by a deranged Lex Luthor fanatic. "It just seems dangerous to go up against Lex. You've already been to the hospital once, and you were a target at the rally."

"I _do_ understand if you're concerned Clark, believe me. That girl Samantha was desperate for Lex to win and she got carried away with her campaigning. With the bodies found on campus, it seems like she went rogue. The Sheriff told me Lex was also attacked in his office yesterday."

Clark raised his eyebrows upon learning that Lex had also been attacked. He'd heard nothing about it. Maybe Lex's people were keeping it on the down low to disassociate their campaign from all links to Samantha Drake. Clark wanted to believe that Lex did not have a hand in any of this but the billionaire had a previous obsession with Clark and the Kent family, so Clark didn't feel he could completely rule out the possibility that Lex might fight dirty. Still, that Samantha had also gone after Lex was a surprise in itself. "What?"

"Yeah. Samantha came by to visit him at the mansion. We don't know exactly what happened but by the time he came to, Samantha had already taken off. The Sheriff was at the mansion at the time of the rally so they didn't know of Samantha's whereabouts until Lois called it in."

Clark nevertheless remained uneasy about his father still potentially being in harm's way. How many other Samantha Drake's were out there looking to finish the job? There were enough disaffected people out there who might feel inspired by Samantha's actions, and his father didn't have the level of security required to deal with it.

"It just feels as though it will get ten times worse if and when you're elected."

"Your Uncle Jack was elected and re-elected five times and he never faced these problems," reasoned Jonathan.

"He didn't go up against Lex though."

"Is that what this is all about? You want me to pull out so I don't go up against a Luthor, is that it?" chuckled Jonathan, attempting to make light of Clark's concerns in a bid to reassure him that all would be well.

"No dad, I'm just worried that Lex has a plan in place to come after you...us. He's already spent time investigating me, investigating us, wanting to know what we were hiding. Dad, if he lost the race do you think he would up the ante and make it all public?"

"Honestly son, I know I can't put it past him, but I really don't know what he might do. I _do_ know I can't let any fear of what may or may not happen get in the way of doing what's right."

Clark sat down on the steps leading up to his loft. "And you think running for state office is the way to do that."

Jonathan sighed. "Son, I don't doubt that things will be hard, win or lose. I'm not doing this because it's a Luthor in the other corner. Let me tell you something. When your Uncle Jack convinced me to run, it wasn't because he was being forced to step aside, and it certainly wasn't because we shared the same ideals. You know, when we were kids, we might have been just a couple of good ol' boys never meanin' no harm, but Jack and I have never seen eye to eye on a lot of things, yet we've always valued our friendship and respected each other's opinion. Whatever decisions I make, I want them to be for the right reasons. Some of those decisions will be the opposite of what Jack would do. Sometimes they may end up being the wrong decisions but I choose to believe that as long as I make them for the right reasons, I stand a better chance of them being right."

"Sounds to me like you and Uncle Jack see eye to eye on that one. He stepped down because it was the right thing to do, after everything that had happened."

"Yeah...well, the incident with the girl only sped up his departure, Clark. He knew the writing was on the wall long before that. He was only running for re-election because no other candidates had come forward until Lex came along."

"So Uncle Jack suggested you run because he believed you would make the right decisions, even if they were different to his own?"

"Clark, Jack told me that over the years, his pledges had moved more and more to the centre ground as he was fighting to keep everyone happy, and he said to me that he'd had to promise things over the past four years were so different from the things he originally promised when he first ran, that he no longer recognised the person in the mirror."

"Do you think that could happen to you?"

"I think that can happen to anybody. When you're young and naive, you see everything in black and white. 'I'm gonna do this and be different, and that's the end of it!' It takes a while to realise that the world is just one big grey area. If you can realise that and try to make your corner of it that little bit clearer, that's all anyone can ask from you. Your outlook might change but that's because hopefully you've learned from your mistakes."

Jonathan studied Clark. "That's not what's bothering you though, is it?"

Clark marvelled at the uncanny way his dad could read him. "Dad, are you sure you're doing the right thing by putting Lois in charge? I mean, you know how she can be!"

Jonathan laughed, knowing they had got to the crux of the matter. His son always concerned himself with whatever Lois was or wasn't doing, in spite of himself. Jonathan knew that Clark had a soft spot for the military brat but he was either unaware of it, or so aware that he would vehemently deny that there was such a thing. Clark could be the most stubborn person in the world sometimes, and in the short time he'd come to know her, Jonathan felt that Lois would fill out the stubbornness quotient the rest of the time. It was inevitable that the two would butt heads.

"I know she's a little rough around the edges, but when she believes in something, and when she cares about someone, she will fight tooth and nail. She's passionate and headstrong but her heart is definitely in the right place. When she gets worked up enough to want to fight for something, it's better to have her in _your_ corner."

"But she said herself that she's not qualified to do this. Why not get Sosnick back? You said yourself that he got Uncle Jack re-elected all those times. I just don't want you to miss out because your campaign lacked the experience needed to win."

Jonathan moved over to sit down on the steps so Clark scooted over to give him some room.

"Son, I wanna win this campaign too, but it's not about winning at all costs for me. I know that Sosnick is an expert in the field. He's been a great help in trying to ensure a smooth transition if we win, and I don't doubt that he would have done a thoroughly professional job. My problem was that he was working hard to make me someone I'm not. I guess I'm afraid I would be just like Jack, looking at myself in the mirror and not recognising the man staring back at me. I'd rather be principled and lose than be a phoney and win."

"I'm still not sure hiring Lois is the best way to go."

"How do you mean?"

"Dad, Chloe mentioned that Lois and Lex had a minor disagreement at the Talon. Is it possible that Lois is taking this on as a way to get back at him?"

Jonathan said nothing, merely indicating for Clark to elaborate.

"Chloe didn't mention what Lois had said, but apparently Lex told Lois that she was nothing but a muffin peddler. You just know Lois isn't going to take that lying down. She's like...like," he stumbled for the appropriate metaphor. "She's like a pitbull on a pant leg!"

Jonathan laughed out loud. As metaphors go, it was a pretty accurate one.

"Clark, listen," sighed Jonathan, putting his hand on Clark's shoulder to get his son to look him in the eye. "Lois has been in the job for only a few days and from what I've seen, she's been doing a great job. She's got everything organised and people are starting to take notice. She's not doing it for the money and I couldn't pay her what I'd be paying Sosnick, but I'll find a way to make sure she gets what she deserves for the work she's done. It's in her nature to want to win, but it's also in her nature to wanna help wherever she can.

"Think about it. She first came to Smallville because she needed to find out what really happened when everybody thought Chloe had died. She went digging when the FBI were about to close the file. She's gutsy. When Lucy showed up, Lois went out of her way to protect her from that loan shark, even after she learned that her sister had been playing everybody all along. She took the blame even though none of it was her fault. She's honourable. When we had the second meteor shower, she was supposed to be heading to Europe with her father. Instead, she came back to the farm just to find out if we were all alright. She...um," Jonathan felt the onset of tears at the memory, swallowing to keep his voice from cracking, "well...she helped me find your mother and got us to the hospital. I honestly don't think I would've found her in time without Lois' help. She's as loyal as they come."

Getting up to close the tool chest, he carried on explaining why he thought he'd made the right decision.

"I know it's a big risk I'm taking, but she's earned the right to give it a go. You know, you're both a lot alike."

"Yeah right!" Clark scoffed, suddenly amused. He and Lois were like chalk and cheese. Oil and water. Cats and dogs.

"No, I mean it. She might not have powers, but like you I think she can achieve anything she sets her mind to. Managing this election campaign will be a big plus on her résumé. Winning the election campaign will get her noticed by a lot of people, opening a lot of doors. As I see it, she has nothing to lose and everything to gain. She knows it too, but still everything she's done so far has been what I was hoping Sosnick would do. Honestly, you should hear her on the phone with all the movers and shakers. She's got them all wrapped around her little finger and is so persistent, we're already making headway in places where we were unknown before. She's sharp and can see things I never even noticed."

Clark thought on his father's words. As ringing endorsements go, Lois couldn't ask for more. His father had every faith in her, and had backed up his initial hunch with some solid reasoning that Clark couldn't pick fault with. From doubting whether Lois had what it takes, he was now thinking that maybe she was the ace in the pack after all. His dad was getting better with the sales pitches, that's for sure. He could make a politician yet.

"As long as I have you, your mother and Lois behind me, I can hold my head up high regardless of what happens on election night. I'm counting on everyone else for votes, but I'm counting on you all for support."

"You make it sound like she's one of the family."

"You might not like to admit it Clark, but she practically is. She's always welcome at our house, you know that. I'd be proud to see her make her way in the world, just like I'd be proud of whatever you choose to do with your life. She's got a lot more to offer than you realise, and with her...what was it you called her earlier...?"

"A pitbull on a pant leg!" Clark smiled despite himself.

"...Right, with her pitbull on a pant leg attitude, she is going to win over a lot of doubters. She's changed the perception of our campaign, and that is exactly what I need if I'm going to stand any chance of winning this election," Jonathan explained, stepping over towards the barn door as they were done for the night.

Clark nodded and stood back up, feeling relieved and a whole lot more reassured.

"Hey, why don't you lock up while I head back. There are a couple of details about tomorrow that I need to go over with Lois before she goes home."

With that, Jonathan left the barn. Clark stood there pondering what might happen in the days and weeks ahead. There would be bumps in the road but his dad was convinced the election campaign was in safe hands. Now it was just a matter of winning it, and maybe having Lois Lane fighting in your corner really was a good thing. Time would tell.

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 **FIN.**


End file.
